


You Can Do It!

by yoshizora



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Gen, liberal interpretation of noponic arts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27114769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshizora/pseuds/yoshizora
Summary: “… Did anyone else know that Nopon could breathe fire?”(the party reacts to Riki's Arts)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	You Can Do It!

**Author's Note:**

> takes place between Riki joining the party and the Telethia fight in Makna Forest :V

Sharla was wrong when she made that mild remark about their group being contracted as Nopon mercenaries.

See, at least mercenaries get paid. And if they don’t agree with their employers, or just don’t like the way they look or the way they smell, they’re more than welcome to leave and seek business elsewhere. Mercenaries can afford that freedom and independence. What they’re all doing right now, crawling around on the forest floor plucking out grass, is not what mercenaries do.

Maybe if they were getting paid for all this nonsense!

“Friends, be careful! Friends, wear gloves! Grass is _poison!_ ” Riki emphatically declares, bouncing around between them to check on their work.

Reyn sputters and throws his handful of grass aside, falling back on his haunches.

“Poison!?”

“Yes, poison!” RIki bobs up and down. Probably his way of nodding. How do Nopon nod if they have no necks?

Also, why is Riki having them pick poisonous grass for him?

They picked up his armor (“armor”), fetched his weapon, and did everything else on his errand list before they set out from the village. Maybe he’s taking advantage of their goodwill at this point. What a disconcerting thought.

“And might I ask why exactly you’ve tasked us with gathering these?” Dunban doesn’t dramatically shout like Reyn does, but he does brush his hands against his pants with some alarm plain on his face. Shulk is trying to clear his pockets of the grasses he’d already gathered, and Sharla is already shoving an ether cartridge into her rifle and aiming it at Reyn while telling him to stop moving around or else she’ll shoot him in the face.

“Stop _touching_ your face, Reyn! You’re only going to spread it!”

Melia, who had somehow been spared from participation and had been standing aside as a spectator, makes a noise that could either be interpreted as shock or pity. Maybe both. She takes a few steps back. For now, she withholds any commentary.

The sun beats down on their shoulders. It’s such a lovely day; humid and muggy and uncomfortably warm, as Makna Forest perpetually tends to be, but lovely.

“Nopon are immuuuuune to poison of Makna grass. Silly Hom Hom!” Riki cheerfully snatches up the handfuls that Reyn and Shulk had thrown down into the dirt. His little rucksack is already filled up from what he had already shoved in there, so he tries to hand them off to Dunban to carry.

Dunban stands up and crosses his arms.

“Could’ve at least spared us a warning in advance, my friend,” he says.

“Riki show you later! Riki chew grass.”

“Huh,” is all Dunban says, one brow raised.

“Then Riki spit grass!”

“Oh… that’s gross,” Shulk says with some dismay.

“Come, Riki show you! Hom Hom friends not yet seen Heropon in action. Pow pow! Blargh! Riki show you strength of Nopon!” Riki punches at the air with all four limbs. “Do friends think Riki only battle with Hero Biter?”

Everyone sort of shrugs, sort of nods, sort of stands there in awkward silence. Asking how exactly Riki was going to pull his weight in the group felt rude. A small Nopon certainly wouldn’t be a brawler like Reyn or a swordsman like Dunban. They don’t even know how his Hero… Biter… works. Maybe it actually bites with a trigger of some sort. Shulk wonders out loud if he can add some jagged teeth to it, to at least make it look just a bit more threatening.

They’ve gathered enough of that poisonous grass, Riki arbitrarily decides. Everyone shoves their share of the harvest into Riki’s bag, which is threatening to burst at the seams. Reyn begins to complain that his hands are still itchy but quiets down when Sharla offers to shoot him point-blank.

The grass is only poisonous when ingested, Riki clarifies. It doesn’t exactly settle their nerves but at least they won’t have to worry about rashes.

Still, Reyn announces that he has a rash. Dunban tells him to spit on his palms. That ought to soothe it.

Not far from the pavilion is a roaming pair of Feris, with their wicked spurs and brambly tails. They aimlessly prowl in circles and paw at the dirt, minding their own business, but Riki insists that they should beat them up because Feris _eat_ Nopons and he must show them who’s boss! Heropon is boss! No more Noponic snacks for the Feris!

“It wouldn’t hurt to see what Riki is capable of,” Dunban says to the rest of them, all skeptical. “We’ll have the advantage of numbers against the Telethia, but that won’t mean anything if we can’t work as a team. And, of course—“ His mouth twitches, maybe a smile. “We mustn’t get in the mighty Heropon’s way.”

“So this is like… an audition.”

“No, Reyn. This is not like an audition.”

“Hom Hom friends no worry! Riki, eheheh, let Dundun take the lead.”

“Look at that! The furball’s full of nothing but hot air after all! All that big talk and he’s heading to the back of the line!”

“Hey, stop picking on him,” Shulk says, offering an apologetic shrug as Reyn appears absolutely _affronted_ that his best friend is taking Riki’s side. “Dunban’s right: the important thing is knowing how to work around each other. The Telethia are no joke. We can’t afford to make any mistakes.”

“You managed to take one down by yourself, though. Ain’t that what you said?”

“Not really. Alvis helped out.”

“Riiiiight… _Alvis._ ”

Melia primly clears her throat, effectively silencing whatever Shulk was going to say next. “If any of you would care to realise, Riki has already gone ahead by himself.”

Whether to prove Reyn’s accusations of cowardice wrong, or because Riki had simply become impatient, no one would be able to tell. The Feris are bearing down on him; Dunban and Shulk are the first to dash over, the rest quick to follow.

Even with the recent addition of Melia, the five of them always had an easy rhythm to their flow. Dunban and Reyn attack the enemy head-on; Shulk slips around to the rear, slashing from behind; intermittent _bangs_ from Sharla’s rifle crackle from a safe distance, with Melia weaving around the chaos with impeccable footwork and blasts of ether attacks.

The sixth member does toss things up. Just a bit.

Reyn almost trips over Riki and then Shulk stumbles as Riki bumps against his legs, aiming to whack at one of the Feris with his Biter and then Sharla is trying to warn Dunban that Riki is about to hop into his path and—

“ _Lurgyyyyy!_ ”

“Oh— he’s _spewing!_ Augh, what in the—“ Reyn’s face screws in part horror, part disgust.

The Feris go berserk, batting and pawing at their now vomit-covered faces. They screech— it's corrosive? Burning away at them? It certainly doesn't look comfortable at all. Not too far away, a Scout Hode pauses, stares at the group, and decides these strange intruders on the fringe of Hode territory aren't worth engaging. It sprints away. Nobody notices.

“I see. That is why Riki tasked us with gathering so much of that poisonous grass,” Melia says, mouth set in a thin line. "He's rather full of surprises, isn't he?"

“ _B-b-b-burrrninaaaate!_ ”

“… Did anyone else know that Nopon could breathe fire?” Sharla asks, lowering her rifle in disbelief.

“ _Freezinate!!!_ ”

“You learn something new every day.” Even Dunban pauses his attacks to observe Riki’s onslaught upon the Feris, which are somehow now on fire _and_ suffering from frostbite.

Everyone sort of comes to a standstill, watching Riki smack at the Feris’s rears with his Biter while they blindly snarl and snap at the air. Then one of Sharla’s bullets whizzes through the air, and time resumes.

They make quick work of the Feris. Just another crackle of lightning ether, and a kick from Dunban, and the beasts collapse in the dirt.

But— 

“Ow!” Reyn grunts in pain as one of the Feris manages to swipe its claws across his chest mid-fall. Abandoning his regular armor for a more lightweight fare in order to cope with Makna Forest’s heat may have not been the best decision after all; those claws rend right through the thinner fabric, drawing blood.

Dunban sighs. “You can’t let your guard down so easily, you know. Everyone else: good job. Remember, we must stay vigilant!”

The Feris had stopped moving. Sharla carefully prods one with the end of her rifle and signals to the others that they’re dead.

“Hom Hom hurt! Oh no!” Riki cries out, bouncing over. “Hom Hom… bleeding?! Waaaah!”

“It’s alright, Riki,” Shulk lowers a hand as if to pat him on the head, but reconsiders and awkwardly crouches beside him instead. “We all get scraped up now and then. Sharla’s a really good medic, besides.”

“Uh huh… one Heal Bullet, coming right up.”

“WAIT!!!”

Sharla nearly drops her ether cartridge.

“Riki not yet show friends all of Heropon powers!” Riki says, eyes shining. “Riki can heal friends!”

“… A jack-of-all-trades? Hm,” Melia mumbles, more to herself than anyone else.

“You? Heal?” Reyn laughs and winces, gingerly rubbing at the skin around his wound. “No thanks, furball. I’m good with Sharla patching me up.”

“Actually, I’d like to see Riki’s demonstration,” Sharla says. “I’d better save my Heal Bullets for our fight with the Telethia. Oh, don’t give me that look, Reyn. You know how it is.”

The others mutter and nod to each other. Riki’s eyes are sparkling even brighter now, brighter than the largest ether crystal deposits. He’s… so excited. Maybe he's just thrilled to be given the opportunity to show off. It _is_ a novel experience for them all, after all. The Nopon merchants around the colonies certainly never partook in military warfare. Melia covers her mouth with one hand, as if to hide a smile.

Only Reyn seems uneasy, still wincing and prodding at the scratches. He begins to back off, but bumps into Dunban.

“Got him.” Dunban grabs him by the shoulders. Reyn yelps and begins to struggle. “Go on, Riki. Let’s not delay our mission any further.”

“Hooray! Hom Hom friend will be fixed up in no time!”

“Don’t I get a say in this?! Shulk! Sharla! A little help here?!”

Riki rears back, taking a deep breath. His stomach very audibly gurgles, the entirety of his tiny body quivering, something deep within his guts making its way up his throat. Reyn’s eyes widen in terror.

“Don’t you dare—!”

“ _You caaaaaaan do it!!”_

* * *

The party proceeds through Makna Forest, headed for the decayed woods where the Telethia was last sighted. No one speaks. No one says a word. Reyn brings up the rear of the group with dragging feet, no longer bleeding but covered in a healthy layer of noponic saliva. It smells like freshly cut flowers and pollen orb perfume, or whatever sort of cologne Nopon like to use. Nobody dares to ask Riki.

“I mean,” Shulk starts, breaking the silence, “the wounds are all gone! Not even a scab! It’s incredible!”

Reyn covers his face with his hands. “Shulk. Please.”


End file.
